A flaw was found in polkit. A local user can exploit this by providing a specially crafted, excessively long input to the `polkit-agent-helper-1` setuid binary via standard input (stdin). This unbounded input can lead to an out-of-memory (OOM) condition, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) for the system.

The remote Debian 11 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the dla-4553 advisory.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------     Debian LTS Advisory DLA-4553-1                debian-lts@lists.debian.org     https://www.debian.org/lts/security/                   Andreas Henriksson     April 29, 2026                                https://wiki.debian.org/LTS
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Package        : policykit-1     Version        : 0.105-31+deb11u2     CVE ID         : CVE-2021-4115 CVE-2026-4897     Debian Bug     : 1005784 1132234

    Multiple vulnerabilities where identified in polkit, a toolkit for defining     and handling the policy that allows unprivileged processes to speak to     privileged processes.

    CVE-2021-4115

      Kevin Backhouse of GitHub Security Lab (GHSL) found that there is a       file descriptor leak in polkit, which can enable an unprivileged       user to cause polkit to crash, due to file descriptor exhaustion.
      This could lead to currently ongoing authentication attempts to fail       to authenticate resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).

    CVE-2026-4897

      Pavel Kohout, Aisle Research found that a local user provide a specially       crafted, excessively long input to the `polkit-agent-helper-1` setuid binary       via standard input (stdin).
      This unbounded input can lead to an out-of-memory (OOM) condition,       resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) for the system.

    For Debian 11 bullseye, these problems have been fixed in version     0.105-31+deb11u2.

    We recommend that you upgrade your policykit-1 packages.

    For the detailed security status of policykit-1 please refer to     its security tracker page at:
    https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/policykit-1

    Further information about Debian LTS security advisories, how to apply     these updates to your system and frequently asked questions can be     found at: https://wiki.debian.org/LTS     Attachment:
    signature.asc     Description: PGP signature

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Debian security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote SUSE Linux SLES12 host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the SUSE- SU-2026:1425-1 advisory.

    This update for polkit fixes the following issue:

    - CVE-2026-4897: Fixed possible OOM condition via specially crafted input to `polkit-agent-helper-1`     (bsc#1260859).

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the SUSE security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote SUSE Linux SLED15 / SLED_SAP15 / SLES15 / SLES_SAP15 / openSUSE 15 host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the SUSE-SU-2026:1424-1 advisory.

    This update for polkit fixes the following issue:

    - CVE-2026-4897: Fixed possible OOM condition via specially crafted input to `polkit-agent-helper-1`     (bsc#1260859).

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the SUSE security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Ubuntu 22.04 LTS / 24.04 LTS / 25.10 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the USN-8173-1 advisory.

    It was discovered that polkit incorrectly handled nested elements in XML policy files. If an administrator     were tricked into installing a malicious policy file, a remote attacker could possibly use this issue to     cause polkit to crash, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2025-7519)

    Pavel Kohout discovered that the polkit polkit-agent-helper-1 utility incorrectly handled long input. A     local attacker could possibly use this issue to cause polkit to crash, resulting in a denial of service.
    (CVE-2026-4897)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

It is, therefore, affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the ALAS2023-2026-1546 advisory.

    A flaw was found in polkit. A local user can exploit this by providing a specially crafted, excessively     long input to the `polkit-agent-helper-1` setuid binary via standard input (stdin). This unbounded input     can lead to an out-of-memory (OOM) condition, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) for the system.
    (CVE-2026-4897)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the tested product security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Fedora 42 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the FEDORA-2026-1774635f74 advisory.

    CVE-2026-4897 aisle.com fix of unsanitized getline

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Fedora 43 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the FEDORA-2026-387a47c82b advisory.

    CVE-2026-4897 aisle.com fix of unsanitized getline

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Fedora 44 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the FEDORA-2026-054c0e22d1 advisory.

    CVE-2026-4897 aisle.com fix of unsanitized getline

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

  - A flaw was found in polkit. A local user can exploit this by providing a specially crafted, excessively     long input to the `polkit-agent-helper-1` setuid binary via standard input (stdin). This unbounded input     can lead to an out-of-memory (OOM) condition, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) for the system.
    (CVE-2026-4897)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
310957	Debian dla-4553 : gir1.2-polkit-1.0 - security update	Nessus	Debian Local Security Checks	medium
307422	SUSE SLES12 Security Update : polkit (SUSE-SU-2026:1425-1)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	medium
307416	SUSE SLED15 / SLES15 / openSUSE 15 Security Update : polkit (SUSE-SU-2026:1424-1)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	medium
306544	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS / 24.04 LTS / 25.10 : polkit vulnerabilities (USN-8173-1)	Nessus	Ubuntu Local Security Checks	medium
306210	Amazon Linux 2023 : polkit, polkit-devel, polkit-libs (ALAS2023-2026-1546)	Nessus	Amazon Linux Local Security Checks	medium
306075	Fedora 42 : polkit (2026-1774635f74)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	medium
304649	Fedora 43 : polkit (2026-387a47c82b)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	medium
304346	Fedora 44 : polkit (2026-054c0e22d1)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	medium
303884	Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-4897	Nessus	Misc.	medium

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CVE-2026-4897

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